SOCA website scalp claimed by LulzSec in apparent DDoS attack

SOCA, the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, appears to have become the latest casualty of the LulzSec hacking group as its website was sporadically inaccessible today.

In an echo of the announcement LulzSec made about its attack on the CIA’s website, a message on Twitter announced the news of the denial-of-service attack in simple terms:

Tango down – soca.gov.uk – in the name of #AntiSec

As I’ve explained before – a denial-of-service attack is a bit like “15 fat men trying to get through a revolving door at the same time”. A website becomes so flooded with unwanted traffic that genuine visitors to the site find it difficult, or impossible, to get through.

LulzSec’s anarchic activities are a thorn in the side of the computer crime authorities, and the irony of SOCA…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.